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INTERPOL issues Red Notice for Iraq Vice-President

LYON, France – At the request of Iraqi authorities, INTERPOL has published a Red Notice for Iraq’s Vice-President, Tariq Al-Hashemi, on suspicion of guiding and financing terrorist attacks in the country.

The Red Notice for Al-Hashemi represents a regional and international alert to all of INTERPOL’s 190 member countries to seek their help in locating and arresting him, following the issue of a national arrest warrant by Iraq’s Judicial Investigative Authority as part of an investigation in which security forces seized bombing materials and arrested individuals.

The publication of the INTERPOL Red Notice for Tariq Al-Hashemi will see INTERPOL's Fugitive Investigative Support unit and the Command and Coordination Centre at its General Secretariat headquarters closely liaise with its National Central Bureaus in the region and worldwide to pool and update all relevant intelligence.

“The INTERPOL Red Notice against Tariq Al-Hashemi will significantly restrict his ability to travel and cross international borders. It is a powerful tool that will help authorities around the world locate and arrest him,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

“This case also clearly demonstrates the commitment of Iraqi authorities to work with the world police community via INTERPOL to apprehend individuals facing serious charges,” added the Head of INTERPOL.

Containing identification details and judicial information about a wanted person, a Red Notice is circulated to police in all of INTERPOL’s member countries and seeks the apprehension of a wanted person with a view to their extradition.

A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. Many of INTERPOL’s member countries however, consider a Red Notice a valid request for provisional arrest, especially if they are linked to the requesting country via a bilateral extradition treaty. In cases where arrests are made based on a Red Notice, these are made by national police officials in INTERPOL member countries.

INTERPOL cannot demand that any member country arrest the subject of a Red Notice, and an individual wanted for arrest should be considered innocent until proven guilty.